I’m staying near my daughter for a few days in Manchester as she’s just about finished her degree. So realising this may be my last opportunity for a run up here, I was determined to get out and running before breakfast. My hotel (I decided to decline her offer to stay in her student house - my Young Ones days being long gone) is quite near one of Manchester’s many wonderful parks, so once I’d dragged myself out of bed and into my new running kit (pics are for you Flick) I was out the door and ready to run.
The sun greeted me as I exited the hotel driveway and although I had limited time, I knew this was going to be a good run. Turning the wrong way from the hotel I soon discovered Birchfields Park, a smaller park but still lovely, and I was soon running through a wooded glade edged with bluebells, over a lovely bridge and alongside a little bubbling stream, the sun glinting reflection coming off the water. Sometimes being rubbish at geography has its benefits. 😃
After running around and through this park I got my bearings and headed back past my hotel in the other direction and was soon at my intended destination, Platt Fields Park. This was another lovely surprise. I thought it was just a huge playing field, but I found a Cathedral archway, woodland, a church, pretty bridges over a river, and then I stumbled upon a big duck pond, with some geese who seemed rather bemused with me running past and then startled waddling alongside. There were moorhens, coots and mallards too.
I realised I was running out of time, I was only supposed to be out for half an hour and it was already 25 minutes gone and I wasn’t entirely certain of my route back. If I took too long to get back I was in danger of missing breakfast!!!! But I needed have worried and my entrance to the park came in view.
I put on a spurt - there’s no way I wanted to forego poppy seed and lemon muffins - and got back to the hotel at 42 minutes. I’d managed to cover nearly 8km and definitely felt ready for my muffin.
What a super run
